Forward Jeremy Voelkel stands on the sidelines, watching his Carroll Christian High School soccer teammates in a scrimmage. He occasionally exchanges a few words with coach Matt Reisberg.

"He is my offensive captain, and I saw no reason to change," Reisberg said. "It is a position he would have had if able to play. For now, we talk, and there are suggestions. It is pretty much his offense."

A year ago, a speedy Voelkel helped the Patriots (17-3) win the state championship for Christian schools and finish fourth in their national tournament. Reisberg had been projecting a record-setting senior season for for Voelkel.

That changed last April 16.

While with some friends returning from Ocean City, Voelkel was critically injured on Route 50. Six months later, hearing the 16-year-old recount the car accident, there is little reason to believe his being able to tell his story is anything but a miracle.

The car in which Voelkel was riding drifted onto the right shoulder. Trying to get back on the road, the driver turned the wheel too far, Voelkel said. The car shot across the road and slammed into a tree in the median, caving in the car's right side.

Seemingly within seconds, help arrived in the form of two off-duty policemen, two nurses and a paramedic, who, traveling in different cars, had been behind the vehicle.

"I'm sure the Lord placed them there," said Susan Voelkel, Jeremy's mother and a pre-school teacher at Carroll Christian.

Voelkel had been sitting on the right in the back seat, and it took 90 minutes to cut him from the wreckage as the paramedic held his head steady. All four occupants of the car were wearing seat belts; the other three escaped with bumps and bruises.

"He is walking because that paramedic held his neck in place the whole time," his mother added.

Dee Donnelly, a certified registered nurse anesthetist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, was traveling with her husband and two of their six children on the way from the beach to their Ellicott City home.

"The window was blown out on that side," recalled Donnelly, "and the man -- I didn't know he was a paramedic; he was dressed in regular clothes -- climbed in and held him.

"We had to pull out of the way to make room for the helicopter, and I got a ride up to the accident scene," she continued. "The other nurse helped with the other passengers.

"Eventually, when workers were able to cut the top off the car, I helped the man put a hard collar on Jeremy, and we got him out on a board [to keep him as still as possible].

"Actually, it was pretty impressive. People stopped, and everybody knew what to do. There was no panic, and everybody did the right thing."

Voelkel was taken to Peninsula General Hospital in Salisbury, then flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. "Doctors didn't offer much hope," his mother said of that night.

Two vertebrae (C-2 and C-3, which control breathing and movement) in his neck were broken, and as Jeremy said: "With injuries such as mine, usually you either die or are paralyzed. [The actor] Christopher Reeve's injury was similar to mine."

Other injuries included a shattered pelvis, broken thighbone,lacerations of the spleen and brain injury.

"He couldn't eat on his own; we had to command him to do everything," Susan Voelkel said, adding that his mental abilities seemed back to normal by his release.

Her son was treated for five days at Shock Trauma and two weeks at the University of Maryland's Kernan Hospital.

"It's a complex study why some recover better than others from brain and spinal injuries," said Dr. Daniel Drubach, associated with the head trauma unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "In Jeremy's case, the fact he is young and healthy were major factors in his recovery.

"When I first saw him, he had a traumatic brain injury, but upon assessing his condition, found that even though there were cervical [neck] injuries, the spinal cord was not involved. He was very lucky.

"The fact he recovered so quickly was an indication his cells were alive and he was simply in shock," the doctor said. "Given similar conditions, a lot of patients change personalties, but he hasn't.

"He was fortunate to have a strong support system of family and friends, too, and his own motivation was a vital point. He wants to get back to where he was."

After Voelkel's release from Kernan, he spent three months in a "halo" brace that forced him to sleep on his back without moving and two months in a hard brace.

"There was speech and occupational therapy at Kernan, and later I had a home program. Right now, there are no effects," he said recently, "and I feel about back to where I was before the accident."

His doctors have cleared Voelkel for soccer practice, with no contact, and predict he should be able to play sports by spring.

So Voelkel joins his teammates only for the exercises, the running and the drills. Without him on the field, the Patriots were 5-5 in the regular season and 7-6 overall after losing in the first round of the Maryland Association of Christian Schools Tournament. Carroll Christian is host to the Mid-East Athletic Association of Christian Schools soccer tournament this week.

Reisberg said: "Physically, when he practices with us, he still has the skills -- he can turn on the ball, has the speed and one of the best shots. They're all there." Academically, he has a B average and is expected to graduate in the spring.

"I'd like to go to college," Voelkel said, "and since the accident, I think I'd like to do something in the medical field. It's a way of saying thank you and helping others at the same time."

Over the past six months, Voelkel and many others have had their faith tested and affirmed.

Before the accident, Jeremy had planned to make a missionary trip to Bolivia. The accident kept him from going. But through contacts with various Christian schools and colleges, as well as people in Bolivia, prayers for his recovery became international.

"Many of them were right out of the blue. I know, for instance, that there were 3,000 teen-agers who didn't even know Jeremy who had him in their prayers," Susan Voelkel said. "We believe the Lord saved him for a reason. He must have something special planned for him."

While hospitalized, Voelkel found out how well-loved he is through his family -- mother, father, younger brother -- and friends. "It got to the point where there were so many visitors, we had to use the [hospital] cafeteria to accommodate everybody," Susan Voelkel said.

A big moment came in May when Voelkel was able to attend his school's sports banquet. "When his name was called, the place went nuts," Reisberg recalled. "It had been 3 1/2 weeks since the accident."

He paused, and continued: "His will is why he got back so quickly. One day when he was at Kernan, the aide who was supposed to come and take him for therapy was late. Not wanting to be late for his appointment, he got himself out of bed, into his wheelchair and wheeled himself down to therapy. The medical people were stunned. That's his will."

Voelkel, who has also been on the baseball team (outfield-first base), sees himself one day playing sports again. But he said he is willing to bide his time: "The Lord got me this far. I don't want to mess it up. I'd much rather walk later than play now."

Pub Date: 10/27/98